The Ninth

by Benjamin Schramm

  Brent shot a glance to the instructor’s balcony, expecting her to fail them both for interfering in each other’s match. The instructor grew rigid. As she returned his glance, he watched the instructor’s fists tighten on the chair. Her knuckles turned white. The instructor remained silent; her face became like stone as all emotion emptied from it. It was apparent she was using all her energy to hide her reaction.

  Brent returned his attention to the fight. Erin was now beating the tar out of his double. He wondered if perhaps Erin thought she was fighting the real him in confusion. Whatever the reason, the instructor continued her rigid indifference as Erin started to bloody the Brent double. While his double was busy, he casually walked up to the double of Erin. Its eyes followed his movements, but the double’s body remained slack. A clueless expression filled Erin’s double; it looked like a lost little girl. With himself unengaged in the battle, he took the opportunity to survey the hectic mess of fighting recruits.

  Signs of fatigue were becoming more apparent on the recruits, while the doubles continued on without so much as a bead of sweat. Dante was in the same position Brent had last seen him, still locked in a stalemate with his double, neither one giving nor taking an inch. Hiroko was on the ropes, moving much slower than before with bruises on her forearms and tears in her pants near her knees. Her double landed another serious kick to Hiroko’s knee, sending the original crumbling to the ground. She shouted in pain as she landed. Her movements to get back up were slow and largely futile. She gave up hope of returning to her feet as she helplessly watched her double slowly walk up and prepare the final blow. The double was obviously showing off her superiority to the original as she swung her right leg forward and started arching it until it was almost straight up.

  Brent wondered momentarily if that too was an improvement on the original or if Hiroko was really that limber. He saw the unmistakable despair in her eyes as she awaited the final blow. The distance was too large for Brent to do anything but watch. Finally striking with all the double’s might, the doppelganger swung her leg down. As the leg descended Brent averted his eyes, no longer able to stomach the feeling of helpless as Hiroko faced the attack alone. Over the clamor of battle, he could clearly make out the loud crunching sound as the double’s strike connected, shattering bone.

  “What are you doing?” came a terrified shriek.

  The sound pierced through Brent with more force than any blow he had received that day. His attention flashed back to the girl, but the scene had changed. Hiroko was still on the ground, the look of terror still in her eyes, but it had a different taint. Between the crumpled Hiroko and her double was a figure wincing in pain. The double’s leg was resting on the figure’s shoulder as the arm connected to the shoulder hung desperately to the leg. The crowd in the stadium had stopped its cheering. A few groaned quietly as they all watched the scene unfold.

  “This wasn’t your fight!” Hiroko shrieked again. “You’ll fail for this you idiot!”

  As Hiroko shouted at the figure, tears started to leak from her eyes. With the leg resting on the shoulder, Brent couldn’t make out the face. Scanning around, he found Owen’s double standing in a stupor exactly like Erin’s. The hush of the crowd was unsettling and was almost as distressing as Hiroko’s voice.

  “That wasn’t meant for you!” Hiroko continued shouting as she wiped at her eyes. “You idiot! You can’t do that! You can’t get hurt because of me!”

  “I messed up last time, but not this time,” Owen’s voice was icy, but the pain was apparent. “Never again!”

  As Owen’s voice rose to a roar he swung his right fist, connecting on the exposed knee joint in the double’s leg. The force of the blow sent the double reeling into the wall of the coliseum. With the crowd nearly silent, the impact was louder than Brent had expected, resulting in a sickening crunch. The double slid down the wall, crumpling to the ground almost identically to the real Hiroko, the right leg clearly broken. The crowd’s silence was broken by triumphant cheering and shouting. As Owen closed to make sure the double was finished, Hiroko seemed lost in her own world, staring vacantly at him as her mouth silently said idiot repeatedly.

  Brent glanced up at the instructor, and, as before, she was rigid. Her eyes met his, and he could see a mixture of surprise and shock; the instructor had not seen this coming. He casually walked toward Erin’s limp double. Slow stretching out his arm, he brought his finger within centimeters of the double without actually making contact. Gazing at the instructor, he could make out the rage in her eyes. With a sudden flash of inspiration he had it; he understood now. Brent couldn’t help but grin. The instructor’s eyes went wide as she saw the smile expanding on his face.

  “Hiroko! Take out Owen!” Brent shouted over the crowd’s clamor.

  Hiroko was shaken from her reverie and stared in the direction of his voice with shock and horror.

  “Not the real one, his double! Take down Owen’s echo!” Brent shouted louder.

  The instructor jumped to her feet and clenched both fists but said nothing. Hiroko was confused and slowly stood up, glancing around to find the other Owen.

  “You can’t win a prolonged fight in your current condition, so take him out with one blow!” Brent shouted as Hiroko moved toward Owen’s double.

  Hiroko had reached Owen’s double who was still standing limp. The double watched apathetically as Hiroko started to raise her leg for the final blow. Brent was surprised as the real Hiroko matched the flexibility of her double. With a single, graceful movement she struck down with even more force than her double had. After the strain of battling with the real Owen, the final blow against the double’s limp body was too much. With a thud the double dropped to the dirt floor as the crowd above roared in approval.

  With Hiroko and Owen taken care of, Brent thought it was high time to end this show. He leaned over and gently tapped the shoulder of Erin’s double. Instantly, the limp double sprang to action, throwing punches wildly at him. However, the blows missed so badly that Brent barely had to dodge. The doubles were impossible opponents for the person they had copied, but to a stranger they were hopelessly outmatched. He dodged the strikes and started running toward the nearest recruit. The double was unable to adapt to his combat style and followed him wildly swinging.

  “I’m sorry about this!” Brent shouted to the nearest recruit.

  With a single motion, he tripped Erin’s double as she threw a fist. Caught off balance, the double fell headlong into the recruit Brent had led her to. Surprised by the sudden impact, the recruit spun around and started fighting off Erin’s double. Meanwhile, the recruit’s double went limp. Brent let out a laugh as he tapped the newly limp double and led it to the next recruit. One by one, he switched up the matches. With a double in tow, he ran toward Dante, the only recruit still fighting his double. The two were still locked; neither had made any progress since the last time he had checked on them.

  “Dante, do me a favor,” Brent called ahead as he led the double to his target.

  “You might not have noticed, but I’m a bit busy right now, sir,” Dante grunted.

  “Humor me. Push off your double for a moment.”

  The real Dante shrugged then pushed off his double. Brent stopped dead in his tracks and sidestepped out of the way as the double running after him continued past, running right into Dante. Dante didn’t even seem to notice the impact, and with a single downward chop of his left hand, knocked out the double. Just as Brent expected, both Dantes were standing in a stupor, the real one staring at him questioningly while the double stared into space vacuously. Mustering all his might, Brent charged Dante’s double, burying his shoulder deep into the double’s gut. The double fell forward in a most unhealthy manner. Dante looked over the corpse on the ground and then stared at Brent in surprise and horror.

  “I saw you two locked in battle. I knew I’d only get one chance so I had to make it good.” Brent reassured Dante. “If your double didn’t go down in one hit, I’d be the b
ody on the ground.”

  Dante bellowed with laughter so loud that even the crowd above was startled.

  “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not, but I’ll leave it at that, sir,” Dante said recovering from his surprise.

  Looking back on the other recruits, it was apparent they were winning; the doubles’ advantage had been ripped from them. The crowd cheered as the doubles started to fall. Dante and Brent made their way through the clamor of tumbling doubles and charging recruits toward Hiroko and Owen. Hiroko was on the ground rubbing her left leg, grimacing in pain. Owen was on the ground near her with a look of supreme satisfaction on his face. As Dante and Brent closed, Owen waved to them with his right arm. The movement was irregular and seemed painful.

  “So Brent, did we fail?” Owen asked, trying to hide the pain in his voice.

  “I don’t think so. She said we couldn’t gang up on the doubles but she didn’t say anything about changing partners.” Brent said, starting to chuckle.

  “What happened to you two?” Dante asked.

  “Owen improvised,” Brent answered. “Even the instructor was surprised. I’m sure Owen won’t have any trouble getting adopted now. After all, Owen . . .”

  “Is an idiot!” Hiroko half shouted, interrupting Brent. “The moron didn’t have to interfere. Would have been better to let me fail. I’m nothing but a burden to you guys.”

  Hiroko’s face sank as a tear rolled freely down her face.

  “That’s not true at all,” Dante started.

  “Yes it is!” Hiroko shouted in rage and despair. “You all know it! I’m useless! Brent’s kept us all going and is the only reason I haven’t failed! During the last exam I was nothing but dead weight!” Hiroko shouted, on the verge of crying. “Now I can’t even hold my own against myself! There is no point in me even being here!”

  Hiroko started sobbing. She tried to hold back, but it was pointless. She had lost composure. Dante looked on helplessly, unsure what to do or say. Brent could only return Dante’s glances with uncertainty. Hiroko buried her head in her hands as her crying deepened. The two watched powerlessly as she continued to weep. Owen placed his right hand on her shoulder. Almost instantly, Hiroko swept it off forcefully. Owen fell to the ground in pain, cradling his right arm, the agony clearly visible on his face. Gradually, Owen’s face cleared of pain and started to take on a stern look. As he raised his head there was a look of determination in his eyes.

  “Hiroko!” Owen barked at the weeping girl.

  Surprised at the insensitivity, even Dante pulled back from the sound. Hiroko slowly raised her head to look up at Owen. The tears were still flowing down her cheeks. Hiroko started as if she was about to speak, but he had already moved. Owen swung his arms around her, embracing her tightly as he pressed his lips to hers. Dante’s eyes widened in surprise almost as much as Hiroko’s had. Dante and Brent stood in silence as their friends embraced. The look of surprise faded from Hiroko’s eyes as she closed them, apparently lost in the moment.

  As the two held each other, Brent started to feel a strange warm sensation. At first he thought it was his embarrassment, but it kept growing. The heat grew steadily until it was almost unbearable. It felt like he was on fire, his hands ablaze. He glanced at his hands, finding nothing wrong with them. Patting himself down, he found his temperature to be on the cool side; he wasn’t even perspiring. Returning his attention to Hiroko and Owen, Brent jumped back a step. A single ardent glow encompassed the two.

  Warmth rushed over him as he watched the glow grow. He started backing away, but the aura increased faster. As it was about to make contact with him, he could feel its white hot intensity. The two separated and the glow weakened, but did not disappear. Brent fell to his knees and breathed a sigh of relief. Owen whispered something to Hiroko. Due to her crying, Brent couldn’t tell if Hiroko was blushing or if the tears had reddened her cheeks, but he could see the glow shine just a bit brighter. Dante realized Brent was no longer standing with them.

  “What are you doing down there, sir?” Dante asked as he approached Brent. “Are you all right?”

  Surprised at the sudden question, he looked up at Dante standing over him with an outstretched arm.

  “I’m okay, I think,” Brent answered.

  Taking Dante’s offered hand, he stood up. He had taken his attention off Hiroko and Owen for only a moment, but it was enough. As Brent looked back at the two still sitting on the ground, the aura was gone; the strange glow had faded. Together they returned to the pair. Besides the initial shock, Dante’s demeanor hadn’t changed. Apparently, only he had seen the strange warmth. Suddenly realizing where she was, Hiroko glanced around to find Brent and Dante staring intently.

  “You idiot!” Hiroko started pushing Owen away.

  Brent placed a hand on her shoulder before she could continue.

  “Dante and I will be checking on the other recruits. If you need us just call.” Brent said, nodding to Dante.

  As he took his hand off Hiroko’s shoulder, Brent leaned near her ear.

  “Don’t let embarrassment steal this from you,” Brent whispered so only she could hear.

  Hiroko stared at Brent with a startled expression as he and Dante left. After they had gotten a ways away from the pair, Brent glanced over his shoulder to find the two embracing again.

  “Florence Nightingale effect, sir?” Dante whispered his question to Brent.

  “I doubt it. Pretty sure that’s the real thing, Dante,” he answered.

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Trust me, I just know.” Brent glanced at his hands, the warm sensation still lingering.

  The battlefield was littered with unconscious doubles. A great cheering grew in intensity. Brent slowly realized it wasn’t just the crowd above but the recruits were cheering as well. The last recruit had finished his match, and the double was on the ground. Dante tapped him on the shoulder and pointed up to the grand chair above. The chair was empty now; not even the cushions remained. The sun above the open coliseum started to set, filling the arena in a deep crimson. A bright white light came from the end of the arena as the doorway back to the academy opened.

  The recruits sluggishly moved toward the safety of hallways and abandoned the doubles behind them. Out of the corner of his eye, Brent spotted Hiroko and Owen walking toward him, hand in hand. He chuckled to himself as the sight reminded him of several cheesy romance films he had seen. Several other recruits joined Brent in laughter as they walked out of the arena into the brightly lit station.

  “You all sound like a gaggle of geese.” A monotone broke through the laughter.

  Having been so absorbed, Brent missed the entry of the instructor. She still had a regal look, but now there was extra venom in her eyes. The recruits grew silent as they too noticed her anger.

  “I take it we all passed.” Brent dared the instructor’s wrath.

  The instructor bristled; smoldering hatred filled her eyes. Brent didn’t back away.

  “I thought she said we’d fail if we attacked someone else’s double?” Erin apprehensively piped up.

  “It was singles combat,” Dante asserted. “As long as we never engaged two targets at once we were not in violation of any rules. Isn’t that right, sir?”

  “Precisely. When Erin ran into my double the two of us weren’t actually fighting,” Brent explained. “He was charging and I was preparing, but we weren’t exchanging blows. It was a break in the battle. When Erin attacked my double she had simply traded opponents. Her own double didn’t know what to do. Erin hadn’t joined up with me against my double so she hadn’t failed. Thus, it couldn’t continue attacking Erin or it would be in violation of the instructor’s rules. So Erin’s double just stood around, unsure what to do.”

  “What about Owen?” Hiroko asked meekly. “He put himself between me and my double. Doesn’t that mean he failed?”

  “Your double was about to attack you, but again that was a pause. When the double’s strike hit Owe
n, it was the one to change targets. Isn’t that right, instructor?” Brent threw down the gauntlet.

  “The other instructors had warned me not to underestimate you. Tell me, did you figure it out when the girl gracelessly ran into your double or when the boy took the finishing blow for the frail girl?” The instructor was careful not to use the recruits’ names.

  “Erin tipped me off; Owen confirmed it.” Brent responded. “There was no way you could resist humiliating us as soon as possible. Before the fight even began you made that clear. You couldn’t even wait until you finished your lecture to draw attention to the fact I wasn’t listening. The fact you didn’t draw attention to Erin or Owen was all I needed to know.”

  Nathan had never really paid close attention to the exams. Unlike the troopers who enjoyed them regularly, Nathan had no reason to. He wasn’t a division leader, so scouting the new recruits was pointless, and he had access to far greater sources of entertainment. Truth be told, there wasn’t much entertainment value in the exams to be had. There were moments, of course, those riveting encounters where every second held the audience in rapt attention. However, in between those precious moments there were long stretches of dull, uninteresting happenings.

  Nathan found himself longing for those boring exams of the past. Today had been more frantic than the sum of his tenure as the Administer to the academy. The combat exam was no exception. When Jack had convinced him to shake things up, to change the exams, Nathan had accepted without question. How naive he had been. He had even placed a bet on the whole affair, his favorite spice for an otherwise tasteless reality. If Nathan had known the outcome of accepting Jack’s request, he would have turned him down flatly. Well, he would have resisted. It was too late for second thoughts now. The combat exam had been disastrous.